Event information tracking and communication tool

Abstract

A central server system is provided which communicates with a plurality of communication devices known as RTLS tags which are usually worn by participants of an event, the event being normally contained to a facility. The RTLS tags communicate with a network located in the vicinity of the facility to determine the position of the RTLS tags in real time. The network communicates with and transfers information to and from a RTIMS server. Information about identities of the participants, the location of the participants and geographical maps of display booths and exhibitor signage at the event are stored on the RTIMS server in a datastore connected thereto. The datastore may be queried to provide participants information relevant for navigation, lead capture, participant surveys and participant traffic flow. Participant locations may be correlated to entity locations or other participants by the RTIMS system to provide location oriented services.

1 . A system for managing event information during an event occurring in a facility, the facility including a set of geospatial zones, wherein a set of persons move throughout the set of geospatial zones, the system comprising:
 a) A set of computer servers having one or more processors, local memory, at least one storage device attached to each computer server;   b) A set of locatable tag devices associated with the set of persons, to transmit locating signals on a first channel and to transmit and receive device data on a second channel;   c) A network of real-time location sensors, located in a predetermined pattern in the facility, to detect the locating signals;   d) A set of controllable devices located in the facility connected to the set of computer servers;   e) A real-time location system, connected to the network of real-time location sensors and to the set of computer servers, and programmed to interact with the set of locatable tag devices and with the network of location sensors to determine, to store in memory and to report geospatial coordinates of each locatable tag device in the set of locatable tag devices;   f) A recording system, connected to the real-time location system, to record a set of locations associated with the set of locatable tag devices as reported by the real-time location system;   g) A real-time information marketing system (RTIMS) in communication with the real-time location system, the RTIMS connected to a local area network and further connected to a wide area network, the RTIMS programmed to operate on the set of computer servers to create a first set of associations between each person in the set of persons to one locator tag device of the set of locator tag devices, to create a second set of associations between each person in the set of persons to one geospatial zone of the set of geospatial zones and further programmed to generate a set of tabular data files; the set of tabular data files including the first set of associations and the second set of associations;   h) The RTIMS further comprising a means for assessing a quality of location parameter and a means for reporting the quality of location parameter;   i) The RTIMS further comprising a means for controlling the set of controllable devices based on the first set of associations and the second set of associations;   j) A dashboard application system operating a dashboard application program and connected through the local area network to the RTIMS;   k) A portal application system operating a web portal application program and connected through the wide area network to the RTIMS;   l) A viewer application system, operating a viewer application program, for viewing the tabular data files; and   m) A reporting system, connected to the portal application system, the viewer application system, and a set of external systems, the reporting system having access to the set of tabular data files and programmed to provide reporting services based on the set of tabular data files.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the real-time location sensors in the network of real-time location sensors further comprises a means to measure an angle of arrival of the locating signals from the set of geospatial zones. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the network of real-time location sensors further comprises a means for measuring a time difference of arrival between a predetermined pair of locating signals from the set of locating signals. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the predetermined pattern comprises a plurality of networks of hexagonal shaped cells. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the set of locatable tag devices includes a physical control to enable a user-generated signal on the second channel. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the real-time location system is capable of identifying each locatable tag device of the set of locatable tag devices by communicating over the second channel. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the RTIMS further comprises a means to communicate to the set of persons through a public cellular network. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the RTIMS further comprises a main process, a set of sub-processes and a database in asynchronous and non-blocking operation. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the real-time location system comprises a spatial model processor connected to the set of computer servers programmed to generate a three-dimensional model of the geospatial zones. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the set of tabular data files are of the comma separated value (CSV) format. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the set of tabular data files is exported into a SQL database system. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the RTIMS further comprises:
 a) A set of person objects, resident on the computer servers, for containing and operating on a set of data related to the set of persons;   b) A first set of driver objects, resident on the computer servers, for containing information and methods to operate on the set of controllable devices;   c) A second set of driver objects including an object for the real-time location system and for modeling and manipulating a set of data related to the set of geospatial zones;   d) A set of appliance objects, resident on the computer servers, for containing data and modeling a set of data related to a set of devices and systems in the facility;   e) An exporter function for exporting object data into the set of tabular data files; and   f) A controller function for creating and managing the set of person objects, the set of appliance objects and the set of driver objects, and for importing data from a set of import data files and for exporting a set of export data to the exporter function.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the RTIMS further comprises an object-oriented database system, resident on the set of computer servers, for storing and manipulating the set of data related to the set of persons, the set of data related to the set of geospatial zones and the data related to the set of devices and systems in the facility. 
     
     
         14 . System of  claim 1  wherein the set of external systems includes CRM systems. 
     
     
         15 . A reporting system, resident on at least one computer server, for reporting event information after a set of events, wherein a set of persons have attended at least one event of the set of events and a set of organizations have taken part in at least one event of the set of events, and wherein a real-time information management system and a real-time location system have been utilized to gather a set of event data sets for each event of the set of events, and wherein the reporting system is programmed to process and store a set of reports in a local memory for exporting to a set of external systems, the reporting system comprising:
 a) A set of reporting templates defining a set of report forms;   b) A set of asset definitions defining a set of relational operations to be performed on the set of event datasets;   c) An operation means for performing relational operations on the set of event datasets to create a set of report datasets; and   d) A merging means for merging at least one reporting template for the set of reporting templates with at least one report dataset of the set of event datasets to create a report.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15  further comprising:
 a) A set of organization objects containing and operating on data related to the set of organizations;   b) A set of person objects containing and operating on data related to the set of persons;   c) A set of show objects containing and operating on at least one event dataset from the set of event datasets;   d) A set of component objects containing and operating on data describing configurations of the real-time location system and the real-time information management system for the set of events;   e) A datastore for holding the set of event datasets; and   f) A controller function for creating and managing the set of person objects, the set of organization objects, the set of show objects and the set of component objects, and for importing at least one of the event datasets into the datastore and for controlling the operation means and the merging means.   
     
     
         17 . A viewer application system, resident on at least one computer, for viewing and organizing event information after a set of events, in communication with a computer network, wherein a set of persons have attended at least one event and a set of organizations have taken part in at least one event, and wherein a real-time information management system and a real-time location system have been utilized to gather a set of event data sets related to each event of the set of events, the viewer application system comprising:
 a) A computer having at least a processor, a display and persistent memory in communication with the computer network;   b) A viewer application program operating on the computer;   c) A view navigator component in the viewer application program for selecting and importing at least one event dataset from the set of event datasets;   d) A view workspace component in the viewer application program for displaying at least one event dataset from the set of event datasets in a tabular form;   e) A graphical analysis component in the viewer application program for analyzing graphically displayed data from the set of event datasets;   f) A relational operations component, in the viewer application program, to interactively select and perform at least one pre-defined relational operation on at least one event dataset from the set of event datasets to produce and store a first event data asset in persistent memory, the relation operations component further programmed to interactively select and perform at least one predefined relational operation on the first event data asset to produce a second event data asset and to store the second event data asset in a persistent memory; and,   g) An asset definition component, in the viewer application program, to record and store the at least one pre-defined relational operation as an executable relational operation producing the second event data asset from the at least one event data asset.   
     
     
         18 . A method to assemble an event information management system for a set of events held in a first chosen event facility a set of event facilities wherein the event information management system comprises at least a real-time location system (RTLS) and a real-time information marketing system (RTIMS), the method comprising the steps of:
 a) Performing a facility set up process in the first chosen event facility, including the steps of:
 i) Designing a configuration for the RTLS including at least a network of RTLS sensors and a set of RTLS tag devices; 
 ii) Installing the network of RTLS sensors; 
 iii) Calibrating the network of RTLS sensors; and 
 iv) Testing the performance of the network of RTLS sensors; 
   b) Performing an event specific set up process for a chosen event from the set of events, the event specific process including the steps of:
 i) Identifying a set of event specific customizations; 
 ii) Developing the set of event specific customizations including software development and software configuration; 
 iii) Deploying and configuring a set of server resources for the chosen event, the server resources including at least a server resource for the RTIMS and at least one server resource for a RTLS recorder system; 
 iv) Deploying and configuring a set of immersive media systems; 
 v) Defining a set of geospatial zones related to the event facility; 
 vi) Importing the set of geospatial zones into the RTLS; 
 vii) Validating the set of geospatial zones by testing event facility with at least one RTLS tag device; 
 viii) Measuring a quality of location parameter for the set of geospatial zones to identify a geospatial zone that requires system performance remediation; 
 ix) Remediating the geospatial zone that requires system performance remediation; 
 x) Testing the event information management system; 
 xi) Operating the event information management system; 
 xii) Repeating the step of performing a facility set up process for each facility in the set of events; and 
 xiii) Repeating the step of performing a facility set up process for a second chosen event facility of the set of event facilities. 
   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the step of designing the configuration of the RTLS includes the steps of:
 a) Representing the number and configuration of sensors in the network of RTLS sensors;   b) Grouping the network of sensors into a set of sensor cells;   c) Defining the number and configuration of the set of sensor cells including the physical cell size of each sensor cell; and   d) Defining a set of wired and wireless RTLS network components resident in each sensor cell.   
     
     
         20 . A method of gathering and managing event information from an event, the event information describing behaviors of a set of organizers, a set of participants and a set of exhibitors in an event facility during the event, the method including the steps of:
 a) Providing a real-time information marketing system (RTIMS) at the event facility which produces an event data set modeling the behaviors of the set of organizers, set of participants and set of exhibitors in the event facility during the event;   b) Storing the event data set in a persistent memory of a computer server;   c) Deploying a network of real-time location sensors at the event facility;   d) Deploying a set of real-time location system (RTLS) tag devices to the participants;   e) Providing a RTLS for determining RTLS tag device locations in the facility;   f) Programming the RTLS with a set of geospatial zones within the event facility;   g) Enabling RTLS communication with the RTIMS with the network of RTLS sensors and with the set of RTLS tag devices;   h) Tracking the locations of the set of participants using the RTLS and RTIMS with a participant locator service;   i) Providing a dashboard application program for the set of exhibitors;   j) Providing a portal application program for the set of participants and the set of exhibitors;   k) Providing a recorder system for recording the locations of the set of participants;   l) Providing a viewer application program to organize and manage the event dataset; and   m) Providing a reporting system for the set of exhibitors and the set of organizers to organize and generate a set of reports based on the event dataset.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20  wherein the dashboard application program is provided during the event time period. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20  including the steps of:
 a) Deploying a set of controllable devices in the event facility;   b) Enabling communications between the set of controllable devices and the RTIMS; and   c) Enabling the RTIMS to control the controllable devices based on the locations of the set of participants.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 20  wherein the step of providing a portal application program for the participants includes the steps of:
 a) Monitoring a set of information requests from the set of exhibitors;   b) Enabling the set of participants to access the participant locating service; and   c) Enabling a set of navigation planning tools for the set of participants.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 20  wherein the step of providing a dashboard application program includes the additional steps of:
 a) Providing a graphical display of a real-time map of the event facility;   b) Providing a set of dashboard controls to enable the set of exhibitors in finding the participants; and   c) Providing a textual display for showing a list of information related to the set of participants.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 20  including the step of providing a set of active buttons on the RTLS tag device usable by the set of participants to communicate with the RTLS. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the step of providing a portal application program includes the steps of:
 a) Displaying a map of a set of booths in the event facility assigned to the set of exhibitors;   b) Providing a set of information about the exhibitors for a first selected booth in the set of booths to the set of participants;   c) Confirming a visit by the set of participants to the first selected booth;   d) Adding the selected booth and a second selected booth to a visit list;   e) Allowing for the participant to modify the visit list;   f) Allowing set of the participants to display the visit list; and   g) Allowing set of the participants to store the visit list for use during the event.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  further comprising the steps of:
 a) Monitoring the set of active buttons;   b) Correlating the location of a chosen participant of the set of participants to a closest booth in the set of booths;   c) Comparing the closest booth to the visit list;   d) If the closest booth is not in the visit list, then adding the closest booth to the visit list;   e) Annotating the visit list to indicate that the closest booth was visited; and   f) Reporting the updated visit list to the chosen participant.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27  wherein the step of reporting the updated visit list to the chosen participant includes sending an SMS//MMS text including the updated visit list to the chosen participant. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27  wherein the step of reporting the updated visit list to the chosen participant includes the steps of:
 a) Enabling the chosen participant to utilize the dashboard application; and   b) Sending a message to the dashboard application program that results in a map display indicating that a booth of the set of booths was visited.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27  including the following steps which may be performed after the event:
 a) Retrieving the visit list for the chosen participant;   b) Displaying the visit list;   c) Ascertaining a set of visited booths from the set of booths;   d) Allowing the chosen participant create an annotated visit list;   e) Storing the annotated visit list; and   f) Creating a visit report from the annotated visit list.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30  including the additional step of:
 Emailing the visit report to the chosen participant.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30  including the additional step of:
 Printing the visit report for the chosen participant.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the step of providing a RTIMS at the event facility includes the additional steps of:
 a) Receiving a first request with the RTLS that a first participant of a set of participants desires a first set of information associated with a second participant;   b) Receiving a second request with the RTLS that the second participant of the set of participants desires a second set of information associated with the first participant;   c) Correlating the first request and the second request;   d) Sending the first set of information to the second participant; and   e) Sending the second set of information to the first participant.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the step of providing a RTIMS at the event facility includes the additional steps of:
 a) Recognizing that a first participant requests capture of information associated with a second participant;   b) Sending a connection request to the second participant;   c) Receiving a confirmation message from the second participant;   d) Sending a denial message to the first participant if the confirmation message denies the connection request; and   e) Performing the following steps if the confirmation message allows the connection request:
 i) Allowing a first set of contact information associated with the first participant to be viewable by the second participant; and 
 ii) Allowing a second set of contact information associated with the second participant to be viewable by the first participant. 
   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the step of providing a RTIMS at the event facility includes the additional steps of:
 a) Allowing for a first participant and a second participant to establish a persistent connection wherein contact information and physical location information may be shared;   b) Recognizing that the first participant requests capture of the current physical location of the second participant;   c) Determining if the first participant has established a persistent connection with the second participant;   d) Sending a denial notice to the first participant if a persistent connection has not been established between the first participant and second participant; and   e) Obtaining a set of positional data from the RTLS for the second participant if the persistent connection has been established.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35  including the further steps of:
 a) if the persistent connection is established then generating a map of the event facility;   b) Plotting the coordinates of the first participant and the second participant on the map; and   c) Making the map available to the first participant through the portal application program.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 20  wherein the step of providing a portal application program includes the steps of:
 a) Allowing for a chosen exhibitor of the set of exhibitors to load a multimedia advertising element into the RTIMS;   b) Providing the chosen exhibitor of the set of exhibitors an event information management service; and   c) Providing the chosen exhibitor a set of sales staff authorizations for accessing the event information management service.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the step of providing a RTIMS at the event facility includes the additional steps of:
 a) Detecting when a requesting participant of the set of participants requests information from a chosen exhibitor of the set of exhibitors;   b) Detecting when the requesting participant visits a selected booth associated with the chosen exhibitor; and   c) Providing the chosen exhibitor a set of contact information for the requesting participant.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38  including the additional steps of:
 a) Adding the set of contact information to a list of customer leads;   b) Providing the chosen exhibitor access to the set of contact information;   c) Providing the chosen exhibitor access to a report containing the list of customer leads; and   d) Logging a fee related to the report containing the list of customer leads.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the step of providing a RTIMS at the event facility includes the additional steps of:
 a) Detecting when a requesting participant visits a chosen booth associated with a specific exhibitor;   b) Retrieving a set of requesting participant attributes associated with the requesting participant;   c) Comparing the set of requesting participant attributes to a pre-defined set of exhibitor attributes in order to match a sales agent with the requesting participant;   d) Selecting the sales agent based on the result of the step of comparing;   e) Alerting the sales agent of the requesting participant;   f) Passing the set of requesting participant attributes to a lead capture list if the sales person does not respond to the alerting step; and   g) Charging a fee to the exhibitor if a sales agent is matched with the requesting participant.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the step of alerting the sales agent about the requesting participant includes the step of sending a SMS/MMS message to the sales agent. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the step of alerting the sales agent about the requesting participant includes the step of sending an alert message to the dashboard application program. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 25  wherein the step of providing a RTIMS at the event facility includes the additional steps of:
 a) Collecting criteria for a requested survey from the portal application program;   b) Detecting the initiation of the requested survey;   c) Collecting survey data from a selected set of participants;   d) Aggregating the collected survey data into a survey report;   e) Publishing the survey report; and   f) Charging a fee for the publication of the survey report.   
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 43  wherein the step of collecting survey data from a set of participants includes the step of receiving a survey submission through the portal application program. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 43  wherein the step of collecting survey data from a selected set of participants includes the step of receiving a survey submission through a SMS/MMS message. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 43  wherein the step of collecting survey data from the selected set of participants includes the step of receiving a survey submission from the active buttons. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 43  including the additional step of sending an SMS/MMS message of the survey report. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 43  including the additional step of sending an email message containing the survey report. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 43  including the additional step of posting the survey report to the portal application program. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 20  wherein the step of tracking the locations of the set of participants using the RTLS and RTIMS systems includes the step of:
 Periodically determining average quality of location parameter (AQoL) for each RTLS tag device as the average age of each RTLS tag device during the event.   
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 50  including the additional steps of:
 a) Generating a contour map of the event facility indicating the AQoL of each RTLS tag device; and   b) Reporting the average of AQoL over all RTLS tag devices in the event facility.   
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 50  including the additional steps of:
 a) Computing an average velocity for each RTLS tag device during the event, the velocity being computed as the time averaged rate of change of RTLS tag device location during a pre-defined time interval as reported to the RTIMS by the RTLS; and   b) Computing an estimated positional error for each RTLS tag device by multiplying the average speed of a given RTLS tag device by the AQoL of the given RTLS tag device.   
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 52  including the additional steps of
 a) Generating a contour map of the event facility indicating the estimated positional errors for each RTLS tag device; and   b) Reporting the average of AQoL over all RTLS tag devices in the event facility.   
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 20  wherein the step of tracking the participant locations of the set of participants using the RTLS and RTIMS systems includes the steps of:
 a) Defining a set of person objects wherein each person object contains a first zone list and a second zone list;   b) Associating each person object to a dynamic zone of a set of dynamic zones;   c) Defining a set of zone objects wherein each zone object contains a third zone list;   d) Associating each zone object to one geospatial zone in the set of geospatial zones;   e) Populating each first zone list with a subset of geospatial zones from the set of geospatial zones;   f) Populating each second zone list with a first subset of dynamic zones; and   g) Populating each third zone list with a second subset of dynamic zones.   
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 20  wherein the step of providing a viewer application program to organize and manage the event data set comprises the steps of:
 a) Defining a set of relational operations in the viewer application program;   b) Providing for an asset definition recorder in the viewer application program for recording a list of relational operations in a computer readable device;   c) Importing the event data set into the viewer application program;   d) Operating on the imported event data set with a first relational operations from the set of relational operations to create a first derived event data set; and   e) Storing the first derived event data set in the computer readable device.   
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 55  including the additional steps of:
 a) Operating on the first derived event data with a second relational operation from the set of relational operations to create a second derived event data set;   b) Recording the first and second relational operations as an executable macro in the asset definition recorder; and   c) Storing the second derived event data set in the computer readable device.   
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 56  including the additional steps of:
 a) Importing a new event data set from a new event into the viewer application program; and   b) Executing the executable macro to cause the first relational operation and the second relational operation to operate on the new event dataset to create a new derived event dataset.   
     
     
         58 . A method of reporting event information for a set of events in a set of event facilities, the event information for each event included in an event data model representing the behaviors of a set of organizers, a set of participants and a set of exhibitors during each event in each event facility, the set of event data models for the set of events being stored in a local memory datastore of a reporting system server, the method including the steps of:
 a) Creating a set of executable asset definitions to organize a set of report data from the set of event data models;   b) Creating a set of report templates;   c) Operating a reporting program on the reporting system server;   d) Importing the set of report templates into the local memory datastore;   e) Importing the set of executable asset definitions into the local memory datastore;   f) Executing at least one of the asset definitions of the set of asset definitions to organize a set of report data from the set of event data models;   g) Placing the set of report data into at least one report template to create a report; and   h) Communicating the report to an external computer system.   
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 58  wherein the step of creating a set of executable asset definitions includes the steps of:
 a) Applying a set of relational operations to a first set of tabular data to extract a second set of tabular data; and   b) Storing the set of relational operations on a computer readable media suitable for importing into the reporting program as an executable asset definition which when executed on a third set of tabular data reapplies the set of relational operations to the third set of tabular data.   
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 58  wherein the step of creating a set of report templates includes the step of defining a set of report templates suitable for creating reports that transfer into a CRM system of an external system. 
     
     
         61 . The method of  claim 58  including the additional steps of:
 a) Providing a set of objects including a person object class, an organization object class, a show object class and a component object class in communication with the reporting program;   b) Instantiating at least one show object of the show object class with data from the set of data models;   c) Instantiating a set of organization objects of the organization object class with data from the set of data models;   d) Instantiating a set of component objects of the component object class with data from the set of data models; and   e) Instantiating a set of person objects of the person object class with data from the set of data models.